The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza

Author : Robert Bryndza
Title : The Night Stalker
Published : 22/03/18
Pages : 400
Genre : Crime Fiction
Publisher : Sphere 

     In the dead of a sweltering hot summer's night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in bed. His wrists are bound and his eyes bulging through a clear plastic bag tied tight over his head. A few days later, another victim is found dead, in exactly the same circumstances. As Erika and her team start digging deeper, they discover a calculated serial killer - stalking their victims before choosing the right moment to strike. The victims are all single men, with very private lives. Why are their pasts shrouded in secrecy? And what links them to the killer?

     A while ago I read the first in this series Girl In The Ice, it was a book that had me gripped from the first page. I felt it was cleverly plotted and gave me a heroine that I could get behind and root for. So it has taken me a shamefully long time to get around to reading the next in this series. I finally found the right time in between other books to delve back into the world of Erika Foster. This time she is on the hunt for yet another devilishly clever serial killer. I went into this book hoping it would live up to my experience from the previous book. 

     Erika once again lived up to what I hoped, She is a well-written character and for me comes across as flesh and blood. The way she balances work and her home life come across as genuine and she is someone that If I was ever to be murdered I would want to be on my case. Her team are back in full force and I love the way they interact with each other. When it comes to or killer at larger This one holds up to the previous they are clever and cunning. What drives this person to kill felt like the sort of thing you would come across as a motive in a true crime book. Its one of the many things that have brought me back to his books I enjoy the way this author writes his killers they come across as a very real world. When it comes to Bryndza's characters to me they never feel over the top their problems are real and the way they go about solving them feel genuine.

     If you have read any of my reviews before you would know I have tended to put police crime books into two types. I would say this book lands firmly in the world of police procedural. The author has a great knack for build his tension up throughout the story. This time around we get to know the killer well and by halfway through we are right there with Erika on their heels in trying to bring them to justices. The author's style lends itself so well to the type of books he writes. And while you may say this would be an obvious thing, sometimes I have come across authors who's style of writing I have loved but have been let down by the stories they have been trying to write.  the world he has created lifts of the page and I can see it before my eyes which adds to my enjoyment as a whole. Coming into this book after having read the first made me fully aware of not only the baggage Erika carry's but also her team, with that being said If this was your first time with them I dare say it would not take you long to catch up, as we get little glimpses back to things that have happened. The ending not only left me satisfied with the story as a whole but once again left me wanting more. 

     If you haven't already guessed this was a book that pulled me in and I loved from start to finish. It's blending of tension and mystery is one I would find hard to beat. The author has once again proven himself up there with the best of the other euro crime writers. In my opinion, you can't go wrong if you were to pick up one of his books.